Uterine fibroids develop 20 to 80 percent of the time in women aged 40 and up, as stated by Womenshealth.gov. Although they can form in women of any age, they are found most commonly in women who are entering the early stages of menopause, which generally happens around the early 40s.
Identification
Uterine fibroids are growths that form within the endometrial walls, located in the uterus. In medicine, they are often referred to as leiomyoma, or myoma, and are usually benign, although sometimes they may be cancerous. Fibroids may appear as a single growth or they may appear as many separate tumors. They vary in size, ranging from the size of a sunflower seed to the size of a grapefruit. Fibroids can grow even bigger, but this is extremely rare.
Causes
Researchers are not entirely sure what causes uterine fibroids, but they have a notion that two factors may be to blame--hormonal imbalances and genetics. Since they don't know what causes them, they also don't know how they shrink or grow. According to Womenshealth.gov, evidence has shown that they grow rapidly during pregnancy as hormone levels surge, and they shrink both when anti-hormone medications are given and during menopause.
Symptoms
The majority of uterine fibroid cases in menopause go without notice. Most women don't even know they have them at this point since the fibroids have already begun to shrink. Those who have symptoms may experience heavy bleeding, abdominal pain, bloating, frequent urination, lower back pain and painful intercourse.
Testing and Diagnosis
In order to find out if your symptoms are attributed to uterine fibroids and not menopause, your physician may want to conduct a few tests, the first of which may be a pelvic exam. Your doctor will be able to feel whether your uterus or ovaries are enlarged and whether there are any lumps. Once this test is completed he may want to examine you by way of an ultrasound. This will give the physician a visual indication of any uterine fibroids or other growths. In the case of hard-to-find fibroids you may have to undergo keyhole surgery (laparoscopy). This will give the physician an inside view of your organs for a more accurate diagnosis.
Treatments
Doctors may prescribe medications to prevent further growth of uterine fibroids. If appropriate, he may prescribe low-dose progesterone medications such as Depo-Provera, birth control pills (which contain progesterone) or an intrauterine device (IUD, which contains a small amount of progesterone). Other treatments are used for fibroid removal. These include myomectomy, a surgical procedure used to remove fibroids, while leaving the uterine tissue intact, or a hysterectomy, which is a surgical procedure to remove the whole uterus.
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